Archive for April, 2012

It’s not that we take a regular vacation every year. Many times we just visit family which is always most pleasant. Otherwise, our family vacations tend toward visiting historical places like,

Charleston

or a Shaker Village,

or the beach

or even a calm cozy cabin in the mountains.

It never occurred to me that we would ever go here…

– (Island of Adventure, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter)

or here…

The Magical Kingdom. 🙂

That just isn’t “like” us. But we did, and it was great fun!! And that’s the point – we just needed to have fun. We entered new worlds of fantasy and make believe that we usually only do while reading books or watching movies. It was delightful!

Along the way we discovered that Cassie LOVES roller coasters, Alex would rather watch than ride a roller coaster, Daniel still hates roller coasters, and roller coasters make me laugh like a kid. We all loved the water rides, though.

God puts the right people in your life. He really does. I tend to forget this, though I have marveled over it before. Yes, I forget to be thankful for the people in my life. Unfortunately, I take for granted the people closest to me, those who add more blessings to my life than anyone else and those who know me best and love me in spite of myself.

So yesterday, while lecturing my dear son on some neglect of his, I was given such a great gift – his smile. He also listened, accepted the rebuke, but smiled at me as though I had given him a candy bar instead of a rebuke. He took himself away to do better and left me wondering about this most lovely gift of a child that God had blessed me with, and yet days go by that I have missed this blessing.

It’s not the packages that we unwrap that melt our hearts or the grand purchases that we make that will bless our lives. Things will not satisfy the deep needs for love and affection. And it was just a smile that reminded me of all this and at precisely the time I needed reminding.

It would have been more than enough to see that one smile, but I received more smiles as the day went by. It occurred to me that my son wants me, his mother, to be happy, and he found that when he smiles, his smile is reflected back to him.

I remember a similar story from when he was about 3 years old and had gotten into trouble. I was trying to get across to him the seriousness of his crime, when he beamed a large smile up into my face. Confusedly, I asked him why he was smiling. He replied that he “just wanted to be happy.” I remember wondering, “where did this child come from.” But I know. God gives us just what we need.

After tossing and turning much of the night and waking up feeling weary instead of rested, I wondered how I was going to get the bare necessities done to prepare for guests coming. As I sat at the table eating breakfast, my ray of sunshine started eagerly talking about all the things he planned to do. He was planning on cleaning!! His enthusiasm, with no signs of being daunted, did more good to my soul and body than the caffeine I was drinking.

I’ve always called him my ray of sunshine, and I believe God put him in my life to bless me, and to remind me, and to point me back to what is truly important.